Maria Z. Moore for Southampton Town supervisor

The race between Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Z. Moore and her challenger, Richard A. Carozza, is a case study in governing style — Moore is reflective while Carozza says he will fix all of the problems in the town in his first 100 days.

“Well, I’m a doer,” Carozza told the editorial board. “I get things done.”

Democrat Moore, 66, of Westhampton Beach, is seeking her third term. She was first elected Southampton supervisor in 2023, reelected last year in an uncontested race, and the seat is back on the ballot this year because of the state’s even-year voting change. Republican Carozza, 63, of Speonk, is a general partner of RAC Group, which provides mortgage lending, insurance and real estate development services.

Moore wants a comprehensive master plan, a wise step as Southampton copes with more traffic, a lack of affordable housing, sewer expansion and increasing financial stressors.

Carozza said if elected he would have the Riverside sewage treatment plant up and running in months because getting the plant operational is a matter of “just pulling the switch.”

The Riverside plant, Moore said, was ready to be built until the town “got some information that the prices have changed, so we need some additional funding.” Once that money is secured, construction will begin, she said.

Carozza also wants to alleviate traffic congestion where eastbound Sunrise Highway slides into County Road 39 by adding a lane and getting rid of some traffic lights. Moore supports Suffolk County’s push for state control of the clogged road, and she said the town created a task force to study other traffic alleviation ideas throughout the town.

The 2027 budget proposal calls for piercing the state property tax cap with a 9.4% increase. Under Moore, Southampton exceeded the cap in ’25 and ’26. Moore told the editorial board the 2027 tax hike was needed to hire new staff, fund the town’s paving budget, and upgrade parks and town buildings.

Carozza said the tax increase is “a real big number,” though he admitted staying under the tax cap was “a complex situation that needs to be addressed.” Carozza wants the town to increase revenue and reduce taxes by building sewage treatment plants to allow business to grow. Southampton, under Moore’s leadership, is already doing that.

Carozza says the town can’t just “tax our way out of this,” but one of his revenue-generating ideas — permitting alcohol sales at beaches and more high-end food concessions — is misguided.

Moore, who became the first woman to win the mayor’s office in the Village of Westhampton Beach in 2014, has learned how to govern a larger municipality like Southampton Town. She knows that running a government effectively requires a plan that takes time.

Carozza’s well-intentioned yet shortsighted belief that he can snap his fingers to fix problems in the first 100 days lacks the informed, nuanced approach needed to address the major infrastructure needs in the town.

Newsday Opinion endorses Moore.